BEFORE WE GOT THERE [STYLE: Intimate country-soul ballad, around 72 BPM. Tender female vocal with a natural ache; warm piano, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, and soft cello. Keep the words clear and close. Build gently through the final chorus, then end with just piano and voice. No long intro or instrumental break. Target length: about 3 minutes.] [VERSE 1 — quiet, close vocal] I learned to braid my daughter’s hair By watching my own hands in the mirror. When fever came at two a.m., I wished your voice was somewhere near. I needed you for scraped-up knees, For first-day tears and how to cope. I rocked my babies in the dark And tried to give them what I hoped. [CHORUS — cello joins; let the emotion rise] Mama, I needed you in all those years— For scraped-up knees and first-day tears, For every little life I held While trying to raise myself. I thought we had more time to find The softer words we left behind. Now I’m standing here with all this love And no more chance to get there. [VERSE 2 — warmer, with a hint of hope] Then came the little ones they had, Small hands reaching up to me. You became their great-grandmother— A place in our family tree. We shared a laugh, a photograph, A few more words than years before. I thought maybe we were finding A way back to each other’s door. [CHORUS — gentle lift] Mama, I needed you through all those years— Through growing kids and grandkids’ tears. I thought we had more time to find The softer words we left behind. I wanted one more chance to say The things I’d carried every day. I thought we’d find our way back home. [VERSE 3 — drums fade; voice and piano] Then came the word: they found the cancer. I thought, I’ll go. I’ll see her soon. I still had words I hadn’t spoken, Still believed there’d be a room Where I could sit beside you, Mama, And try to mend what time had torn. But before I made it there to see you, You were gone before the morn. [FINAL CHORUS — emotional peak, then soften] Mama, I needed you in all those years. I need you now, and you’re not here. I’m raising them with all I have, Still wishing I could ask you how. I hope you knew beneath the hurt, I loved you every day we lost. We almost found our way back home… [OUTRO — piano alone, almost a whisper] I never got to say goodbye. I still need you, Mama. I always will.
